Prime Minister Andy Burnham has defended his revised early prisoner release scheme after the widow of PC Andrew Harper accused the Government of an “utter betrayal” for leaving two of her husband’s killers eligible.
Burnham said he had pushed the review “to the very limits of what is possible”, but warned that widening the exclusions further could leave prisons without sufficient space for newly sentenced offenders.
“I know I can look people in the eye and say to them there is nothing more I could have asked for without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing within months,” he wrote.
The Prime Minister did not refer directly to Lissie Harper or to the men convicted over PC Harper’s death. His statement nevertheless provides the Government’s fullest explanation so far for why manslaughter and a number of other violent offences remain within the revised arrangements.
PC Harper’s killers remain eligible
As Ayes To The Right reported earlier, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers remain eligible to leave prison sooner than originally expected.
The pair were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 13 years after PC Harper was killed while responding to a quad-bike theft in Berkshire in August 2019. Henry Long, the driver who received a 16-year sentence, is not expected to benefit from the changes.
Lissie Harper said the continued eligibility of Cole and Bowers was “disgusting” and an affront to justice. Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Jason Hogg also said the decision was demoralising for police and other emergency workers.
Sexual offenders removed from scheme
Burnham paused the planned September implementation shortly after entering Downing Street and ordered an urgent review. He has now confirmed that sentences for rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming offences will be excluded.
Reports suggest the revision will reduce the number expected to benefit over the initial period from approximately 6,000 to 5,000. Prisoners already regarded by the courts as the most dangerous were excluded under the original plans.
Burnham said the distress experienced by victims who discover that an offender will be released earlier than expected had influenced his decision.
“I understand their anger and anxiety. More than that, I share it,” he said.
Burnham warns of justice system collapse
The Prime Minister argued that cancelling or restricting the scheme much further would create a different threat to public safety. He said prisons reaching full capacity could prevent police from making arrests and courts from sending newly convicted offenders to custody.
Burnham blamed the immediate crisis on insufficient capacity created between 2010 and 2024. Ministry of Justice figures show that operational capacity rose from 89,757 places in May 2010 to 90,239 in April 2024—a net increase of 482, subsequently rounded to 500.
A separate parliamentary answer records that 23 prisons, accounting for 7,519 places, were permanently closed after 2010. The Government has acknowledged that many were considered old and uneconomic to maintain, while some other closed accommodation has since returned or is scheduled to return following refurbishment.
Tags, exclusion zones and victim support
Burnham promised that nearly all offenders released under the revised arrangements would be electronically tagged and subjected to tougher supervision.
New licence conditions can include restriction zones agreed with victims. Probation officers are also being given powers to prohibit offenders from driving, entering pubs or attending community events.
A further £10 million will fund trauma-informed contacts for victims and a new national helpline. The Government says the measures are intended to place victims closer to the centre of release planning.
The additional safeguards may themselves face scrutiny. HM Chief Inspector of Probation has warned separately that weaknesses in the electronic-monitoring system can prevent probation staff from receiving sufficiently prompt alerts when restrictions are breached.
Further options ordered
Burnham has asked Justice Secretary Alex Norris to examine three additional ways of relieving pressure on the estate:
- Reviewing Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences imposed between 2005 and 2012, under which some prisoners remain detained long after completing their minimum term.
- Considering the earlier release of more women and converting parts of the women’s estate to accommodate male prisoners.
- Accelerating the removal of foreign national offenders to their countries of origin.
The Prime Minister also reiterated the target of providing 14,000 additional prison places by 2031, describing it as the fastest prison-building programme since the Victorian era.
A defence unlikely to end the argument
Burnham acknowledged that the settlement was imperfect and did not go as far as he would have preferred. His argument is that keeping every remaining eligible prisoner incarcerated would create an unacceptable capacity risk.
That explanation is unlikely to satisfy the Harper family or police representatives. Their objection is not simply to early release in general, but to a system under which people convicted of killing a police officer can benefit while Harper’s Law would produce a life sentence for an equivalent offence committed today.
The political dispute therefore remains unresolved: Burnham says prison capacity prevents him from going further, while victims and police argue that some crimes should remain beyond the reach of any early-release mechanism.
Sources
- Ministry of Justice: prison places built and closed, 2010–2024
- UK Parliament: prison closures since 2010
- House of Commons Library: changes to automatic prisoner release dates
- Ministry of Justice: prison expansion programme
- The Guardian: revised early-release numbers and exclusions
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